Brush



Oct- 24 1944 c. E. DAWSON ET AL Y 2,360,829

BRUSH Filed March 28, 1941 Patented Oct. 24, 1944 UNITED f STATES PATENT ori-icc Charles Dawson, IAIolyoke, and Lewis H. Gustafson, Northampton, Mass., assignors to Pro- Northampton,

Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application March 28, 1941, VSerial No. 385,670

9 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in brushes; As herein shown and described the invention is applied to hair brushes, .but the invention is not limited to such brushes and may be used in many other types when the particu- -lar advantages of the invention make its use desirable.

Ornamental 'designs on the backs of brushes and theattractiveness of the brush generally play an important part `in the saleability of the brush, but such attractive features are expensive. Moreover, economical manufacture requires that brushes be made in large -lots,` and when, for no predictable reason, a particular design does not appeal to the public, the maker or seller of such brushes is likely to be burdened with a large number of left-over models for which the demand is small and the turnover very slow.

Our invention now makes it possible to manufacture brushes in large quantities while permitting a variation in design after the parts are made, with the result that while the Vcost of manufacture is low because of quantity produc'- tion, there is no risk of undue waste or slow sales turnover due -to lack of appeal 'to the public of any particular design. Many attractive designs can be created and may be used as their popularity warrants, without restricting any given number of brushes to any particular design. y

Our invention also makes it possible to yuse different arrangements and dilerent qualities of bristles accordingjto the demand without the necessity of manufacturing complete -brushes of different types.

A very considerable Vsaving in cost of manufacture can nowbe'made by the use vof 'new and different materials-by the use of fewer and less expensive -molds, and by shortening the time necessary for molding.

The invention will -bestbe understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. -It is Vto be understood that 4the invention is not llimited 'to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illus- '.trated in the drawing, since the invention as de- :fined by the claims hereinafter appended, may .be otherwise 'embodied withoutdeparture from :the spirit and Yscope thereof.

It is also to be understood that the terms here used are fori-,he purpose of description and not of limitation, 'and it is Vnotintended to limit `the rinvention Vclaimed herein vbeyond the require- .ments of the priorart.

In the drawing:

Figfilis'la'side elevational view of a bristle pad :and bristle tufts.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of an ornamented bristle pad.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a brush back :and handle.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a complete brush.

Fig-5 is a fragmentary top plan view of an assembled brush back and bristle pad.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an ornamental insert used in a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of an assembled brush similar to that of Fig. 5 with the ornamental insert of Fig. 6 added. n

Fig. 8 is a view in cross section on line 8-8 of Fig. '7.

In the drawing, a brush b-ack I and handle 2 are molded from a suitable translucent or vtransparent material, preferably a plastic material. The lower part of the back I is hollowed out to form a recess 3 which may be sufficiently large so that the back I is a thin shell having va top portion 4 and a thin, integrally formed continuous wall 5 which is resilient and will give slightly when forced and then tend to grip an inserted object securely. `A bristle kpad 6 lis also formed of a suitable material and provided with holes 'I which extend into but not through the pad, and bristle tufts 8 are secured in the holes 'I. `.An ornamental design 9 is formed in-the upper part or top surface IIJ of the pad 6. -Suchdesign may be molded, stamped or cut inthe top surface of the pad or it may -be colored or inlaid. When the vpad is placed -in the recess 3 .the wall 5 grips it tightly, but if it .isV desirable to secure `the pad more firmly, the side edges II of the pad may be cemented to the inside surface of the wall 5.

When the pad 6 is `seated within -thefrecess 3 the top portion vIll thereof is preferably in contact with or closely adjacent to the inner recessed surface of the back I. -In this position, the de-r sign 9 readily shows through the material of vthe back Yand gives 4the Ybrush ya pleasing and attractive appearance as shownin Fig. 5.

The brush back I is preferably transparent so that the design on the pad 6 will be Yclearly visible. In some instances, however, it may be possible to achieve a desirable effect vWith'a back of translucent materialyas, for example, -Wh'ere light transmitted vthrough-the `material of the brush back may bemodied by vappropriate colors in the bristle pad Aso that a .pleasing appearance is obtained. The vword translucent .as itis used in the claimswis-intended to include .the characteristics of both translucency and trans;- parency.

We prefer vtofhave the :entire back and handle made of translucent or transparent -material.'

This form is highly vdesirable,vsince vone -of the important advantages of the invention, greatly reduced cost, is thereby furthered. However, the advantage of variation in design requires only that a suitable portion of the back Yshould be translucent.

The formation of a recess in the back and the insertion of the pad therein provides a convenient means for joining these parts; the resiliency of the walls Vof the back make it possible to have the bristle pad removably secured to the back and the appearance of the whole brush is helped. The brush backs may be made in many different shapes, sizes and types but all having a recess of uniform shape and size adapted to receive the pads, so that any pads, uniform in size but differently ornamented, may be used with any standard type of brush back.

The bristle pads are preferably formed of plastic Vmaterial similar to that preferred for the brush back. A translucent or transparent material is also preferred, but these characteristics are not essential. The bristle pads are small and far less expensive than the larger and more cornplicated back and handles. Inability to sell a few pads bearing some particular design would result in much smaller loss than that hitherto necessary when the design could not be changed once the brush was completed.

The great reduction of manufacturing cost is a very important advantage of the invention. Plastic brushes are very popular, and .these are made of methacrylate resin. This material is used because of its appearance and because it is not affected by the heat of drilling. But methacrylate resin is expensive. Another plastic, polystyrene, which costs only about half as much as methacrylate, could not be'used heretofore because the heat of drilling is likely to melt it.

Our invention makes it possible to use the more expensive methacrylate for the small bristle pads, which must withstand the heat of drilling, and use polystyrene for the larger backs and handles.

The cost of manufacture is also reduced because one mold can be used to form the brush back and handle, and different small molds used to form the pads of varying design. Molding can also be performed in less time than formerly, since the un-ornamented backs are comparatively easy to mold and since the pads, which are thin and small, can be moldedvery quickly.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 6, '7 and 8. In this form we use a thin strip of decorative material such as the strip of foil I2 (Fig. 6) which is inserted between the pad 6 and the back I (Fig. 8). This thin strip may be made and decorated at very low cost. Other materials than foil may be used, especially paper, plastic or metal. When decorated inserts are used, even the small waste Which may result from the manufacture of pads bearing an unsaleable design is avoided. As in the case of standard recesses and standard size pads, the inserts may also be made to conform to standard sizes so that they may be used with any brush pads or any standard brush backs. The decorated inserts are far less expensive than inlays or designs permanently formed on the back of the brush and it is an additional advantage that one design may be substituted for another not only by the maker, but also by the retailer, or even the customer.

We claim:

1. A brush having a transparent back, a recess formed in the underside of said back adapted to receive a bristle pad, a bristle pad adapted to be received and held in said recess and having an ornamented portion on that surface adjacent said transparent back to improve the appearance of thev completed brush, and bristles secured to said bristle pad.

2. A brush having a transparent back, a recess formed in the underside of said back adapted to receive a bristle pad, a bristle pad adapted to be received and held in said recess, bristles secured to said pad, and a strip of thin ornamental material inserted in said recess between said transparent back and said bristle pad to give said back the appearance of possessing ornamentation.

3. A brush comprising a translucent brush back, a separately formed bristle pad removably secured to said back, bristles secured in said pad, and a decorative surface immediately underlying said brush back from which said back derives an appearance of ornamentation.

4. A brush comprising a translucent brush back, a separately formed bristle pad removably secured to said back, bristles secured in said pad, and a decorative surface adjacent to but free from the under surface of said brush back from which said back derives an appearance of Ornamentation.

5. A brush comprising a transparent brush back, a separately formed bristle pad removably secured t0 said back, bristles secured in said pad, and a decorative surface associated with said bristle pad located adjacent to the under surface of said brush back from which said back derives an ornamental appearance.

6. A brush comprising a transparent brush back, a separately formed bristle pad removably secured to said back, bristles secured in said pad, and a decorative surface supported by said pad in a position adjacent the under surface of said brush back from which said back derives substantially all its ornamentation. v

7. A brush comprising a transparent brush back having a recess formed in the under side thereof adapted to receivel a bristle pad, a separately formed bristle pad'removably secured to said back, and bristles secured to said pad, said bristle pad having an ornamental surface adapted to be held closely adjacent the under surface of said back so that said back derives therefrom the appearance of possessing ornamentation.

8. A brush of the character claimed in the preceding claims, in which the back isV formed of transparent polystyrene and the bristle pad is separately formed of transparent methacrylate resin, said methacrylate pad having a decorative surface held closely adjacent the under surface of said polystyrene back so that `the decorations thereon appear to be formed in the polystyrene back and thereby give said back the appearance of possessing ornamentation.

9. A brush comprising a transparent brush back having a recess formed in the underside thereof adapted to receive a bristle pad, a separately formed bristle pad removably secured t0 said back, bristles secured in said pad, and a decorative surface associated'with said bristle pad adapted to be held adjacent the under surface of said brush back and visible through it to give said back the appearance of being ornamented.

CHARLES E. DAWSON. LEWIS H. GUSTAFSON. 

